WINNERS:
- Justin Fields – Fields started six games last season for Pittsburgh, but was eventually overtaken by Russell Wilson. Now he is in line to start once again after the New York Jets signed him to a two-year, $40 million contract. The dual-threat ability of Fields should help the porous offensive line and possibly open up running lanes for the talented backs on the roster. Fields has improved his completion percentage every season, culminating at 65.8% last season. Fields is reunited with Garrett Wilson, who was a teammate at Ohio State.
- Jayden Daniels – After acquiring another weapon in Deebo Samuel, the Washington Commanders acquired left tackle Laremy Tunsil for draft picks. The Commanders already had a Top-10 offensive line, according to PFF, and the unit got better with one of the best left tackles in the league. Daniels held the ball over three seconds last season, the seventh-most.
- Chris Godwin and Baker Mayfield – Godwin re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three years and $66 million. Mayfield completed 71.4% of his passes last season for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. The wide receiving corps is potent in Tampa Bay, with Mike Evans, Godwin and Jalen McMillan, making life easier for Mayfield and a nightmare for opposing defenses.
- Najee Harris – Harris goes to a Chargers team that loves to run the ball, will dedicate resources to bolster the offensive line and has one of the better quarterbacks in the league. In addition, he is in line to be the bell cow, as J.K. Dobbins is an unrestricted free agent. Harris hasn’t missed a game in four seasons, has good size at 6-foot-1 and 242 pounds and is a threat catching passes out of the backfield.
- Javonte Williams – Signed with the Dallas Cowboys for one year and $3 million. Rico Dowdle is currently an unrestricted free agent, so Williams is atop the depth chart. For now. The contract doesn’t inspire bell cow dreams, but the situation looks good.
- Darius Slayton – He got paid! Three years and $36 million is awesome for a player who has never hauled in more than 770 yards in a season and caught 39-of-71 targets for 573 yards last season. There’s a question mark at quarterback in New York, but if they can bring in someone competent, Slayton could do some things playing alongside Malik Nabers, who is going to be the focus of opposing defenses on a weekly basis.
- JJ McCarthy: With Sam Darnold in Seattle, it’s McCarthy’s time to shine in Minnesota. The Vikings had the ninth-best offensive line last season. On Monday, they bolstered the unit even further by signing former Pro Bowl center, Ryan Kelly.
- Josh Palmer and Josh Allen – Palmer signed a three-year, $36 million deal with the Buffalo Bills. Allen gets a new weapon that put up 0.06 EPA per route and 0.33 EPA per targets last season.
LOSERS:
- Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks – Seattle needed a quarterback after trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. They signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. Yes, Darnold had a career year last season, completing 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns, but that was under the tutelage of Kevin O’Connell and behind the ninth-best offensive line in the league. Throughout his career, Darnold has struggled under pressure and the Seahawks had the third-worst offensive line last season. In addition, Seattle just traded DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- C.J. Stroud – Daniels receives a boost with Tunsil as his new left tackle. Stroud correspondingly sees a downgrade. The Texans’ line was already one of the worst in the league, and Stroud tends to hold the ball a long time. Without Tunsil, the unit could be the worst in the league.
